June 21, 2007

Hamas and Abbas

Hamas wants to restore the Palestinian unity government. But they’re the terrorists! I must say with a tear that I’ve lost my respect for Mahmoud Abbas… and anyone trying to deepen the divide between the West Bank and Gaza. Remember the lessons of the American Civil War… a house divided against itself cannot stand. Abbas, Israel, and our lovely government here in the States seem to want to turn this particular house into split-level condos.

Meanwhile, Palestinians say that they have no confidence in either side, Abbas’s approval ratings are sinking to where Bush was about a year ago (and still sinking), and most Palestinians put lack of the rule of law far ahead (and poverty by a good margin) of any international meddling, including from Israel. Palestinians don’t hate Israel, they just want peace, the same as what most Israelis want for Palestine. For some reason it’s the people in power in this situation who are using terrorism as an excuse to take this lofty goal farther away than ever. Peace would be a challenge, but that’s no excuse to make the situation for it worse. The longer “our” side refuses to have peace talks the more civilians are going to die, and your personal dignity as a leader is not worth people dying for.

This isn’t an issue of whether Hamas is “good” or “bad;” nobody’s going to come out of this, exactly, smelling like roses. The issue is how to promote peace and stability so that we can save lives, and if that requires “working with terrorists” than so be it. Besides, I hardly think blustering military arrogance is a charge that any party involved can fairly level against Hamas, even if it’s a valid accusation (and I don’t really know if it is or not, I’m just making comments from the international peanut gallery).